The Greater Good
by CallMeMadamSecretary
Summary: "How do you measure the life of one person against the greater good? Can it ever be the right thing to sacrifice an innocent person? And how do you know what the greater good really is?" – Amy Engel
1. Chapter 1

_The Greater Good_

Elizabeth smiled as she looked at the clock, 9:30 AM. She was finally able to sleep past 6:30 AM for the first time in over a month. It was Saturday but recently the office had been busy and even though she was technically off on the weekends she was never actually off. She would spend most weekends holed up in their office at home or being told she had to take a quick trip to another country. Today was the first time she actually had a break and she planned on enjoying every second of it.

She wrapped her arms around Henry as he snuggled closer to her and ran her hand down his back gently. She knew that he had missed her being home too and hoped that they could make up for lost time this weekend.

She kissed his forehead gently and ran her hand down his cheek as his eyes fluttered open, "Morning handsome."

He yawned and smiled at her, "Am I dreaming or is my wife actually here?"

Elizabeth smacked his arm gently and laughed, "Not a dream." She whispered, kissing him softly.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, content with her being in his arms for the first time in a while. After laying there for a few minutes they heard arguing downstairs and Elizabeth groaned. "I guess the kids are up." She said, moving out of Henry's arms.

She threw on her robe and slippers, making her way downstairs. "What's going on down here?" She asked as she saw Alison and Jason fighting with each other.

"Jason is being a jerk!" Alison yelled, glaring at her brother.

"Did you know Ali has a date tonight?" Jason smirked back at her.

"I'm going to kill you!" She said, moving in the direction of her brother.

Henry wrapped his arms around her before she could make it to Jason and smiled, "Well good morning to you guys too." He kissed the top of her head and ran his hand over her back gently, trying to calm her down.

Elizabeth went over to Jason and ruffled his hair, "Please stop teasing your sister."

Stevie smiled at them and shrugged, "I told them it was silly to be arguing about but they never listen." She said, placing pancakes on the table.

Elizabeth smiled and went over to kiss Stevie's head, "You made pancakes? Is this what I've missed every weekend?" She asked, sitting down at the table with the rest of her family.

After breakfast was finished Elizabeth made her way to the living room, grabbing the newspaper and flopping down on the couch. She looked at Henry as he followed her in, taking the seat next to her "I am going to enjoy every second of not doing anything today."

He smiled and placed his head in her lap, looking up at her "And I'm going to enjoy being able to look at your beautiful face all day." He said with a cheesy grin.

She laughed and rolled her eyes, leaning down to kiss him "Keep it up babe and you might get lucky tonight." She teased with a wink, running her hand through his hair.

The kids had all eventually made their way out of the house and Elizabeth placed the newspaper on the table once she was finished reading it. She stretched and looked down, laughing as she noticed Henry had fallen back asleep. She leaned down and placed a few kisses on his cheek, smiling as he stirred "I'm the one who should be sleeping, you've been on couch potato duty for the past month."

"Hey, it's hard laying around the house all day." He said, pulling her back down for a kiss. "Where are the kids?" He mumbled against her lips.

"Out." She whispered, keeping her lips pressed against his.

He smirked against her lips and pulled back a little, "Am I going to get lucky this afternoon?"

She shrugged and moved off the couch, shooting him a coy look over her shoulder before making her way up the stairs. She laughed loudly when she heard Henry scramble behind her and headed to the bedroom, pulling Henry against her when he made it to the room.

She looked up at him and smiled, leaning up to kiss him gently. Henry moved her back to the bed slowly, lowering her down once they reached the mattress. He leaned down over her, deepening their kiss slightly. They had not been intimate in a while because of Elizabeth's busy schedule so he wanted this to last so they could enjoy it. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Henry, keeping him as close to her as humanly possible.

As Henry moved to her neck she let out a soft moan, "I missed you Henry."

He continued his work on her neck and smiled softly, "I missed you too."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of Henry's lips against her skin. A few seconds later she heard her phone start to go off, signaling a text message. Elizabeth's eyes shot open and she shook her head, "Are you serious?"

She groaned and moved from underneath Henry, looking at her phone.

 _You need to come into the situation room ASAP. Bring Henry._

Elizabeth looked at the phone confused for a second before looking back at Henry, "Russell needs me in the situation room and he wants me to bring you along. I guess they need your religious expertise."

She ran into the bathroom quickly, trying to make herself look somewhat presentable. She had no plans to leave the house today and was still in her pajamas. Henry followed suit, putting a button down and dress pants on quickly.

Elizabeth threw on a dress and made her way out of the bathroom, going over to hug Henry. "I'm sorry our quiet day is being ruined. I'll make it up to you soon."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head, "It's not your fault Elizabeth."

Once they made it to the situation room they walked over to where everyone was huddled in front of the screen. Conrad looked over at the couple and swallowed thickly, "Bess, a new radical group has taken three doctors hostage overseas and are demanding we release some of our most sought after terrorists we have captured."

She nodded and slipped her glasses on, "Can we see the video?" She asked, wanting to get a better understanding of the situation. "Maybe Henry can assess it from a religion stand point."

Russell cleared his throat and looked at Elizabeth, "That's not why we asked Henry to come with you…"

She looked at him confused and shook her head, "Then why did you want him here?"

Conrad nodded at Russell, "Just show her the video."

Henry grabbed Elizabeth's hand tightly as the image of the three doctor's popped up, keeping his wife close to him "Oh my god."

Elizabeth swallowed and blinked a few times, the image starting to register in her mind "Will."

 _A/N: So here is the new story! I got it up faster than I had expected. I hope that I can update this one faster than I did my last story. Please review and let me know what you think and if you want me to continue!_


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth continued to stare at the screen, not paying attention to anything around her. She was trying to process the video and images that were flashing across the screen but it all felt like nightmare. One that she wanted to wake up from immediately. She had heard her name being called in the distance and after a few seconds was able to come out of the trance she was in. She looked over in the direction of the President, who she assumed was trying to get her attention for the past couple of minutes.

"Bess, I know that this is an impossible situation for you but we need you. We need you to help us save your brother and the other doctor's. You're the only one for the job." He informed her, not giving her much of a choice to say no.

Elizabeth nodded and swallowed thickly, "Yes, sir. I will be in the office first thing tomorrow."

Conrad nodded, keeping his eyes on her "I will make sure that you are fully briefed."

She nodded and walked out of the situation room, practically running to her detail. She just wanted to get out of there. As she reached her car she rested her head against the seat, closing her eyes tightly. She could feel her breath become rapid and wasn't sure if she could handle this. Her whole life she felt like something terrible would happen to Will and suddenly her greatest fear was coming true. She didn't even realize that Henry had entered the car until she felt his arms around her.

She shook her head and pulled back, "Not now."

Henry stared at her before looking out of his window, knowing that Elizabeth was going to retreat into herself until she was ready to talk. He had learned through the years that it was just better to leave her alone than to force her to discuss what she was feeling. He reached for her hand, gently wrapping his fingers around hers. He knew that it was the only form of comfort he could offer her at the moment.

After a silent car ride, they walked into the house side by side. "Where were you guys?" Stevie asked from the couch when her parents walked in.

Elizabeth swallowed and looked at her oldest child, "I got called into the office quickly for a situation and dad came along for the ride." She forced a smile, hoping she bought her story.

Stevie narrowed her eyes for a second, not believing what her mother was selling but felt that it was best to leave it alone. "Well that sucks, I know you were looking forward to a quiet day at home."

Elizabeth nodded and went over to kiss her head, "I was. I'm going to head to bed, I have an early day in the office tomorrow." She said as she looked at Henry and her daughter, making her way up to their bedroom.

"So what's actually going on?" Stevie asked, keeping her eyes on Henry. "I can tell that something is going on?"

"Baby you know we can't tell you but everything is going to be ok." He said, trying to reassure her as much as himself. "I'm going to head to bed. Make sure Jason and Ali come home at a reasonable time."

Stevie sighed and nodded, "Ok, I love you."

Henry made his way up to the bedroom, pausing outside of the door before pushing it open. He found Elizabeth on their bed, looking at something on her laptop. He climbed into bed next to her and looked at the screen, closing his eyes when he realized it was the video of her brother and the other doctors.

"I'm just trying to see if I missed anything in the video. Maybe a clue to where they're at or something. The only way we're going to be able to save them is if we can find then. Conrad is never going to let those terrorists go." She said, trying not to let the fact that it was her brother who was kidnapped get in the way of her job.

He nodded and looked over at her, kissing her cheek gently "Baby, if this gets to hard you can stop. I'm sure Conrad would understand."

She sighed and shut the laptop quickly, rolling over on her side "I have to get some sleep." She said, annoyed that Henry was babying her. She knew he was right though. Deep down she wondered if she could do this. She knew that there were only two outcomes in this situation and she wasn't sure if she could live with herself if she could not save him.

Henry watched her and spooned her from behind, grabbing her hand tightly. It was the only form of support he could offer her at this point since she was in work mode. He would wait and be there for her when she couldn't take the pressure anymore. She squeezed his hand back gently, letting him know that even if she was in shut down mode she still appreciated him being there. Even if she couldn't express the words right now.

Elizabeth arrived at the office at 6 o'clock the next morning. She had not slept at all the night before and was ready to bring her brother home. She had been fully briefed on the situation, read up on the new radical group, and tried to figure out where the hostages were located. She summoned her staff into the conference room once they arrived, ready to read them all in on the situation.

"Good morning, I know it is early but there is a situation that has presented itself last night. Three doctors working in the Middle East were captured and will only be released if President Dalton releases 3 terrorists the US has captured. Since we do not negotiate with terrorists we have to come up with an alternate route to saving these men. I need every one of you to help me with this. Watch the video, research the group, see if there are any connections to the doctors, and try and locate where the doctors are being held. This may seem like a daunting task but it is our top priority right now. We have until 9 o'clock tonight before the first doctor is killed. So please do everything that you can." She took a deep breath and looked at her staff, "If you need anything I will be in my office."

"Well this seems like it will be easy." Matt said, sarcasm laced in his voice.

Blake watched as his boss left the room, "Something doesn't seem right." He said, his eyes landing on the white board that had pictures of the three doctors on it. "Oh my god…" He said quietly, shocked at the face he saw.

"What is it?" Daisy asked, looking at Blake.

Blake went over to the board and pointed at the picture of Will, "Will Adams is one of the hostages."

Nadine looked at them before starting to flip through the files Elizabeth had left with them, "Oh no…"

"The secretary failed to mention that her brother was among the hostages I suppose." Jay chimed in, pulling up the video on his laptop.

"I don't think she failed to mention it I just think she is trying to treat the situation as if it were any other civilian being held hostage." Nadine said, trying to gain as much information on the situation as she could.

"Well let's bring those hostages home." Jay said, determination in his voice.

Elizabeth closed the door to her office and rested against it for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. "You have a job to do." She whispered to herself, not wanting her emotions to get the best of her.

She sat down at her desk, looking over the files Conrad had sent over. There was not much known about this new terrorist group but Elizabeth was determined to find out where they were.

After several hours of watching the video, reading the files, and talking to the president, Elizabeth had nothing. She always had something. Why was it so hard this time? Even when she was in the CIA she always had an idea of where to start but of course this would be the one time she had no idea what to do. This group was smart and clearly did their research on how to stay hidden. She rested her head on her desk in defeat, hoping that something would come to her eventually.

She heard the door to her office open and looked up, sighing softly when she saw Henry. She was usually happy to see him but in this case she was hoping it was one of her staff members with some news.

"Hi babe." He said, walking over to her.

She got up to hug him, resting her head on his chest. "Hi." She whispered softly, needing a quick mental break from her work.

"Are you ok?" He asked, kissing the top of her head gently.

"I'm fine. Just trying to figure everything out." She said, moving back over to her desk.

He nodded and placed a plate of fries on her desk, "Well I figured that you haven't eaten so I stopped by the cafeteria quickly."

She smiled a little at him and nodded, "Thank you." He was the sweetest and most thoughtful man on the planet.

"Anytime babe. I have to head back to Murphy Station, let me know if you need anything." He said, moving to kiss her gently. To be honest he was worried. She looked defeated and he figured it was because she didn't have a lead in the situation. He hoped for her sake and for their family's sake she would be able to bring Will home.

Jay stormed into Elizabeth's office around 6 p.m., causing Elizabeth to jump. "Ma'am I think I know where they are!"

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she stood up, walking quickly to the conference room with him. "Talk to me."

He went over to the whiteboard where the staff had mapped out a few things. "The video feed was almost impossible to hack but Oliver was somehow able to get into their server. We have linked them to a bunker in Damascus, Syria. Oliver is 95% sure that this is the accurate location."

"Great job guys!" Elizabeth said as she ran back to her office, she needed to brief the President immediately. They only had 3 hours before the first doctor was killed.

After briefing the President, Conrad decided that they had enough information to send a team into the bunker. They all settled in the situation room, watching the screen as the team approached the small room where the terrorists were supposed to be located. Elizabeth held her breath as the special ops team made their way into the room, looking around for any sign of life.

"All clear." The leader of the team said, when they did not find anyone there.

Elizabeth placed her head in hers hand, taking in a deep breath. They had been so close and this was the only lead they had.

"Sir, it looks like the group had been here but were tipped off. We found a video camera and a few knives left behind." The special ops leader informed the group in the room.

Conrad sighed and nodded, "Thank you." He turned off the screen and looked at Elizabeth. "We need to find out how they knew that we were sending a team in. I know you have a lot on your plate so I can assign this to someone else."

Elizabeth nodded and stood up, starting to make her way out of the room before Conrad called her back. "I just got word that a new video feed is coming in."

Elizabeth swallowed thickly and sat back down in here chair, watching as the terrorists appeared on the screen. Her eyes went immediately to Will who did not look hurt but she was afraid that was about to change.

"Mr. President have you reached a decision?" One of the terrorists asked, standing in front of the three hostages.

"You know America's stance, we do not negotiate with terrorists." He swallowed thickly, knowing what was about to happen.

"So be it. Their blood is on your hands Mr. President."

Elizabeth placed her hands over her mouth as she watched what was happening on the screen. She locked eyes with Will and watched as he mouthed, _I love you._ She had never felt more helpless in her entire life.

A/N: So I am the actual worst with updating but I finally finished this new chapter! I'm not going to lie it was hard writing this chapter because I'm not sure how these things would work out in real life but I tried my best! The next chapter will most likely take place in the McCord household so stay tuned! Please review so I know that you are still interested! Thanks, you guys are the best :)


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